Pitch It! is a refreshingly different book which provides readers with invaluable lessons in management and leadership with the help of real-life examples from the cricketing and the corporate worlds.

Summary of the Book

In Pitch It! Dev Prasad has used some exciting and fascinating stories from the cricketing world to build strategies that can be exceptionally useful in a corporate warfare. The author very skillfully draws similarities from the sporting and business worlds to provide his readers important lessons on leadership and management. The book comprises of enthralling anecdotes linking cricketing legends and business leaders. In addition, the book is packed with case studies from a wide range of industries such as IT, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Banking, and Food and Beverages. Pitch It! is an exceptional compilation of winning strategies and will make a great read for management professionals and entrepreneurs.

About Dev Prasad

Dev Prasad is an Indian author and IT professional residing in Bangalore. He completed his graduation in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Trichy and his postgraduate program from IIM Bangalore. He has held senior management positions at several European and American Multinational Companies. He enjoys reading, writing, traveling, photography, and listening to music. He has penned down several poems, one of which was selected by International Poets Association, USA. He is also associated with a few NGO’s working for underprivileged children. His debut novel Krishna: A Journey Through the Lands & Legends of Krishna was longlisted for 2010 Vodafone Crossword Award.

Pitch It ! : Inspirational Stories from the Cricket Dressing Room to the Corporate Boardroom (English)

Final Test Exit Sachin Tendulkar, by Dilip D’Souza, examines the minute details of the last test match played by one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Sachin Tendulkar.

Summary of the Book

Dilip D’Souza closely observes those two-and-a-half days of the last test match played by Tendulkar, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in November, 2013. The book captures the tumult of sentiments the match had spawned, the love and worship that was showered by the cricket lovers at the stadium, the choking emotion, and the match against the West Indies. This title discusses cricket from the olden days to the new, as Sachin takes to the pitch one last time. The deafening noise in the Wankhede turns into stark silence as the Little Master begins his walk back to the pavilion, marking the end of a glorious era. The author poignantly describes how there will be no more swearing and switching off televisions when he got out; no resonating chants of “Sa-chi-i-i-n, Sa-chin!” on the fields anymore. Final Test is a must-read for all fans of Sachin and of the game itself.

About Dilip D’Souza

Dilip D’Souza graduated as a Computer Scientist and worked in the software industry for many years, before turning into a full-time writer 15 years ago. He has, ever since, been an award-winning writer who has been associated with Outlook, Caravan, Mint, Hindustan Times, NYT, Die Zeit, Salon, The Hindu, Washington Times, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek among other publications. He has also written: The Curious Case of Binayak Sen, The Narmada Dammed, Branded by Law, and Roadrunner: An Indian Quest in America.

The book is a compilation of articles written by well-known cricket expert Harsha Bhogle and follows the evolution of Indian cricket from over the years.

Summary Of The Book

Few people have followed cricket as closely as Harsha Bhogle. He has not only studied the game from the outside but experienced it right from the middle of the action. As a commentator and TV presenter, he has even brought the game to millions of people around the world. In Out Of The Box, he brings together years of cricket analysis in an attempt to track the evolution of the game in India. He also writes about cricketing legends like Sanath Jayasurya, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar.

The book contains a selection of Bhogle’s articles that he wrote for The Indian Express. It explores the history of contemporary cricket tracking the rise and fall of some of the greatest Indian cricketers of all times. It gives an inside view of various aspects of the game, right from coaching methodologies to team control and management.

The book is full of interesting revelations about the Indian team as it played matches around the world. Bhogle’s expert analysis brings out the team’s key strengths and weaknesses and assesses its capability to become the greatest cricketing team in the world.

About Harsha Bhogle

Harsha Bhogle is a renowned Indian cricket commentator, TV presenter, and sports journalist.

Having a keen interest for cricket, he writes frequently about the game for leading news publications. His column Hitting Hard features regularly in The Sportstar magazine. He has authored the official biography of eminent cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin and a number of other books on sports including Complete Encyclopedia Of Cricket and Let’s Play: The Puffin Book Of Sports Stories.

Bhogle was born in 1961 in Hyderabad. He did chemical engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, and studied business management at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is one of the leading presenters of International cricket and is seen at all major cricketing events. He has hosted a number of sports-based television shows for ESPN and Star Sports. He also hosted Travel India With Harsha Bhogle for TLC and The Discovery Channel. He is married to Anita Bhogle, whom he met at IIM-A. She runs Prosearch that is a Sports communications consultancy. They live in Mumbai and have two sons.

Published in the year 2011, Sachin: Genius Unplugged is a book that contains a detailed account of the life of one of the best cricketers in history, Sachin Tendulkar.

Summary Of The Book

Sachin: Genius Unplugged is a collection of 16 essays on Sachin Tendulkar by some of the leading figures in the cricket world, which include R. Mohan, Harsha Bhogle, Gideon Haigh, Peter Roebuck, Greg Baum, and Menon himself. Through the course of this book, the readers are given insights into certain events in the life of the Little Master that haven’t been touched upon yet. The foreword of this book has been written by Muttiah Muralitharan, who recollects the Hero Honda Cup of 1993, where he first met the Little Master. He recounts the time during that tournament when Tendulkar batted for 5-6 overs in Kanpur, and how India won. Sachin remained unbeaten during the tournament. He tells the readers that the Sachin sampler was enough, stating that the stories they heard were true.

By the time he was 19, Tendulkar had made his mark in the international cricket world. Players as well as senior writers were amazed at his talent. Bhogle recollects the first time he interviewed Tendulkar, who was 14 years old back then, and was gaining popularity due to his stunning feats in the Mumbai Circuit, scoring 1028 runs in just 5 innings. Bhogle states that at the age of 14, Tendulkar began to create expectations, and was matching up to them as well. People still seem confused regarding Tendulkar’s calm approach to batting.

Rahul Dravid, in his column, provides the readers with an insider account about the ever-increasing passion of the Master Blaster when it comes to batting. He recounts a statement by a bowler, who exclaimed that Tendulkar should not be motivated more, as it would translate to several hours more of bowling at the nets. Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricketer, and one of the leading voices in the cricket world praised Ramakant Achrekar for coaching Tendulkar during the formative years of his cricketing career. Sachin: Genius Unplugged is a must-have for any die-hard fan of the Master Blaster.

About Suresh Menon

Suresh Menon is a well-known newspaper editor and author. Apart from this book, Menon has written Wisden India Almanack 2013, Bishan: Portrait Of A Cricketer, Dream Team India, and Pataudi: Nawab Of Cricket.

Menon completed his degree in Political Science and Economics from Bangalore University, where he was the topper. He started working for the Deccan Herald, and later worked for the Indian Express, Chennai. He later joined the New Indian Express, Chennai, and was appointed as the Editor, launching the New Sunday Express. However, he resigned from the post in 2002 as he wanted to pursue his writing career. Menon later decided to launch a newspaper of his own in Bangalore city, which was bought off by the Times Of India group, after it became the bestselling newspaper in Karnataka. He currently resides in Bangalore, along with his spouse and son.

Ricky Ponting is undeniably one of the greatest cricketing legends, who looks down memory lane in this tell-all autobiography.

Summary

In this book, Ricky Ponting looks back on his remarkable life and career. Ponting has always been known for his blatant honesty and frankness and he reflects back on a lifetime at the crease. From being a childhood prodigy, Ponting came a long way to becoming one of the best cricketers of all time. He writes about his highs and lows, the scandals, and his triumphs, and in brief about his extraordinary and magnificent International cricketing career. He also writes about his private struggle to maintain his form in the later days and the readers get a great insight into his life, his leadership qualities, career, defeats, and captaincy. The book very well shows his love and passion for the game of cricket and also what made him one of the most successful captains ever.

About Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting is Australian former cricketer and was the captain of the Australian Team for many years. He led his team to victory in both 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cup. Throughout his career, he was involved in writing diaries on Australian cricket, which were produced with the help of a ghostwriter.

Sachin Tendulkar: The Man Cricket Loved Back is about the legendary cricketer and his last match. The match was the most watched cricket match as every Indian wanted to witness it and be a part of it.

Summary of the Book

When Sachin Tendulkar played his last match on November 2013 the whole of India, especially cricket lovers, wanted to be a part of it. Fans saw him play for the last time. Shortly after this the Government of India presented him with the Bharat Ratna Award. This book contains the perspectives and appreciation of his teammates and rivals. It also features interviews conducted by him over the years, and pictures of him on and off the field.

About the Author

ESPNcricinfo is a sports news website which is specifically meant for cricket. The website was originally started during the World Cup in 1993.

Sealed with a Six: The story of how the World Cup saved One Day Cricket is for all those cricket buffs, who eat, sleep and dream only of cricket.

Summary of the Book

2011 is considered the best World Cup of all time and why? Because the tournament helped resurrect the one-day international format. In addition, there were intriguing matches which kept the subcontinent occupied for quite sometime.

Sealed with a Six: The story of how the World Cup shows how every player was given a reasonable chance to showcase their talent and the favourites weren’t favoured much. The world cup to top it all made quite a difference to one of the best-loved cricketer’s already phenomenal career.

About the Author

ESPN Cricinfo is considered the world’s No. 1 cricket website and has over 20 million users on a monthly basis. The website gives its viewers quality content which includes news, live ball-by-ball coverage of all test, one-day international and Twenty20 matches.

Sealed with a Six: The Story of How The World Cup Saved One Day Cricket (English)

The Test Of My Life From Cricket To Cancer And Back is the heart-warming and inspirational tale of cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s battle with the dreaded disease and how he was able to overcome this traumatic phase in his life.

Summary Of The Book

The Test Of My Life From Cricket To Cancer And Back is a book that provides its readers with insights into the most traumatic period in the life of cricketer Yuvraj Singh, as he struggled to come to terms with the fact that he was afflicted with cancer. The victory of the 2011 ICC World Cup receded far into the background in the light of this new development in Yuvraj’s life.

The cricketer, who had recently been in the spotlight for his phenomenal performance in the World Cup, had to now see the world crumbling before him as he dealt with chemotherapy and its numerous adverse effects. What started off as frequent bouts of illness and insomnia, along with a persistent cough that caused him to vomit blood, had eventually been diagnosed as cancer. The author talks about the chemotherapy treatment, and how he lost his hair and appetite.

The Test Of My Life From Cricket To Cancer And Back is a heart-rending story that never fails to grip the attention of its readers. Filled with varied emotions, doubts, and fears, the book is a captivating story of how a human being can fight to survive, even in the toughest of circumstances. Yuvraj Singh also speaks about Youwecan, which is an NGO that helps patients with cancer.

About The Authors

The author of this book, Yuvraj Singh, is a renowned cricketer from India. Singh was born on the 12th of December, 1981, in Chandigarh, India. He completed his schooling from DAV Public School, Chandigarh. Since the year 2000, he has been a part of the ODI Indian cricket team, and started playing test matches since 2003. Singh was presented with the Man Of The Tournament award for his extraordinary performance during the 2011 Cricket World Cup. In the year 2012, Singh was also presented with the Arjuna Award by President Pranab Mukherjee. This award is the highest sport award in the country. In the year 2011, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor, and was treated in the US. He recovered and returned to play cricket in the latter part of 2012.

Sharda Ugra is a well-known journalist from India. Through the course of her 22 year long career as a journalist, Ugra has worked in several forms of media, which include news magazines, broadsheets, tabloids, as well as radio, when she worked at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She currently holds the position of the Senior Editor at ESPNcricinfo.

Nishant Singh Arora is a former journalist from India and current manager of Yuvraj Singh.

George Raymond Richard Martin, is an American screenwriter and author. He mainly works on science fiction, horror, and fantasy novels.Apart from his epic fantasy series, A Song Of Ice And Fire, his other novels include Hunter’s Run, Fevre Dream, Dying Of The Light, Windhaven, and The Armageddon Rag. He has also written a children’s book called The Ice Dragon.His writing is imbued with a strongly melancholic note. His short fiction explores themes like romanticism, idealism, ill-fated love, loneliness, and tragedy.Martin was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on September 20, 1948. His writing earned him numerous awards, the first of which was an Alley Award for his story The Powerman vs. The Blue Barrier. He was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time magazine. In addition to working as a writer and editor, he also worked as a chess tournament director, and a college instructor in journalism. On February 15, 2011, he married his longtime partner, Parris McBride, in a small ceremony held at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Now a major drama film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart, Lisa Genova’s Still Alice poignantly portrays the life of Alice Howland. She has trudged her way to becoming a world-famous expert in linguistics at fifty years old. But a grim tragedy strikes when she gradually becomes disoriented and absent-minded with each passing day, and a terrible diagnosis reveals that she is affected by an onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Still Alice describes beautifully and tenderly how Alice struggles to manage her life dealing with the disease, her marriage and children, and her job.

A loving couple. Kali and Ponnas have it all. Almost, have it all. Except for a child, which they want so badly. The society taunts them. Their families have been waiting in anticipation. All of their hopes are then on the one chariot festival in the temple of the half-female god Ardhanareeswara, where all rules are relaxed and consensual union between any man and woman is permitted. Will the couple want to do something like this? That remains to be seen. This is the crux of the story.Murugan’s writing is stark and clear. His imagery of marriage, sex, companionship and the hypocrisy of the society we live in cannot get better than this work. He speaks of a world where both spectrums ironically try to survive together – the traditional and the modern and amidst all this, he makes sense of his characters and their dilemmas. Just for the uniqueness of the plot, this already is my favourite work of the year.

So much of Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta is shrouded in mystery, that where the man ends and where the legend begins is hard to fathom. Rabisankar Bal makes a credible effort to follow the man, just not on his physical journey that he undertakes, but also on the spiritual journey that he is entrusted with: to spread the word of Sufi mystic Rumi.In these stories within a story, Bal shows us how Battuta changes his outlook in life with each interesting place and character he experiences, and of course, how he spreads love for Rumi everywhere at each stop.

What if you can leave your life and its problems behind and go places - to other countries, worlds, galaxies and back and forth in time? Books are that one medium that will grant you full access to anywhere and everywhere, allowing you to escape into your imagination with rich descriptions of everything you might not otherwise get to see in your lifetime.

Reading books is a hobby that most of us do not devote time to specifically, but on a rainy day when nothing else seems interesting, a quick peek into your bookshelf will reveal hidden gems that will keep you enthralled for the next several hours. Books also improve your knowledge span, in small ways and big, and greatly broaden your vocabulary as well. Which is also why a bibliophile will always sound smarter without meaning to, than one who restricts the amount of literature that he absorbs from this world.

Indulge yourself or your children with boxed sets of timeless classics and family favorites; they will become hand-me-downs that will impart more character to the future generation than any heirloom ever can.

Helping you get ahead in life with an edge over the herd are the entrance exam preparatory books that give you all possible combinations of any test you ever might be interested in taking. Make your college life easier with text and reference books while professionals glean the most out of their jobs with supplements of how-to and technical books.

Open up a Pandora's box of literature for you and your kids with all the fiction titles in every language imaginable; instill nurture the love for books at an early stage, which is the greatest gift you can give your offspring, with age-specific book for children and teenagers.

Well-established as the biggest online bookseller in India with a database spanning more than a million titles and every genre possible, Flipkart has become a go-to resource for bibliophiles of every reading level. They have special discounts on certain titles and popular fiction and nonfiction titles apart from new releases collated to make browsing through them easier for you.

Buy books online from Flipkart with your credit card or via net banking, both of which have secure payment processing. You can even pay cash on delivery when the book is delivered quicker that you can say online shopping. Flipkart also offers refunds or replacements if there happens to be a problem with the books delivered. Indulge the bookworm within you and curl up on the window seat with the books that you ordered online with ease.